


Keychains and Kisses

by Swlfangirl



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Christmas Sterek Fluff, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Happy Ending, I just choked up, I ship Stiles/Etsy, M/M, Stilinski Family Feels, and just a litttle tiny bit, but in a nice way, but they totally end up together, duh - Freeform, maybe pre-slash, no tears, there's kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2016-12-18
Packaged: 2018-09-09 09:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8885380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swlfangirl/pseuds/Swlfangirl
Summary: I just have this love for Stiles/Etsy, don't judge me okay? Also..Derek Hale deserves nice things! For the Secret Santa Exchange!





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [haleofStilesheart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haleofStilesheart/gifts).



 

Etsy: The place to buy customizable, heartfelt, homemade gifts when you don’t have the time, skill, or resources to make them yourself.

 

It’s a thing of beauty honestly, Stiles thinks. Like a big online craft fair that never closes. He’s put the last of his Christmas shopping off til the end of the first week of December which means he’s filtered out everything that comes from another country and disregards pretty much anything that claims two week shipping.

 

His options are more limited now but he can make it work. He’s already figured out what he wants to do for the rest of the pack but both his dad and Derek have just kinda been festering in the back of his mind. Stiles usually does a few different things for his dad. He buys him that old man cologne that his mom and now, Melissa loves. He bakes a whole batch of his favorite unfrosted sugar cookies that he lets the sheriff hoard away in his room for up to two weeks afterward, though they rarely last that long. And usually, Stiles puts some kind of thought into the last gift.

 

He’s made coupons for chores before, sharpie mugs that have adorable one-liners scratched across them, and once Stiles even took a mini art class so he could paint a portrait of his mom that may or may not have been deservedly mistaken as Chewbacca, but Stiles knew his mom would have laughed anyway, so he didn’t mention that the assumption was wrong. This year though, he feels like none of that is good enough. He needs something thoughtful and personal and he just doesn’t have the time to make it anything worthy.

 

So...Etsy it is.

 

He finds an engraved keychain that says _Dad, when you didn’t have my hand, you had my back_ and admittedly goes a little misty eyed after he’s read it the fourth time and puts it in the cart before he gets any more emotional. Just as he’s about to continue scrolling, Stiles heart leaps into his throat. He knows he shouldn’t but he’s always been a little too impulsive so he fills in the little boxes with what he wants and clicks the little cart before he can talk himself out of it.

 

It’s fine...it will be fine.

 

Derek will love it.

 

Hopefully.

* * *

 

In the middle of the pack opening their gifts, Isaac passes Derek a small box with his name neatly typed on the tag but no hints about who it’s from. It doesn’t smell of anyone specifically, not that he can pick out at least. Isaac’s scent is still on the corner where he passed it over but nothing else. He gives up on the werewolf guessing game they played as kids and finally unties the bow, and opens the tiny red box.

 

Inside there’s a keychain, he pulls it out to inspect it further and his heart begins to pump a little faster. It has Alpha written inside a batman logo with little rectangles hanging off to the side on another few even smaller rings, each with a packmates name cut out, those that are here and those that aren’t.

 

It takes him a minute to notice but around the outside edge the words ‘ _Family isn’t replaced, only expanded’_ are engraved and Derek feels a sting prickle at the corner of his eyes. Someone went through a lot of trouble to keep the gift a secret but as he thinks about it more and more he knows who it’s from. The one person who always manages to find a way to tell him exactly what he needs to hear.

 

 _Stiles_.

* * *

 

Most everyone has left, Stiles is trying to do some kitchen cleanup when he feels arms wrap around his waist. Initially, he thinks it’s Scott because they’re tight like that, but when Derek’s head pops over his shoulder he’s pleasantly surprised.

 

“Uh hey big bad, what’s with the vertical pack cuddles?” Stiles asks hesitantly, he doesn’t particularly want to draw attention to it, for fear that Derek will pull away. But he’s also noticed the three wolfsbane beer bottles Derek emptied and needs to get a gauge on whether he should hide the Camaro keys or not. The guy will probably still run his little wolfy ass home, because...it’s Derek, but it’s better than having him driving.

 

‘You smell good,” Derek says, taking a long inhale against Stiles neck.

 

It kind of tickles so he pinches his neck and shoulder together making Derek chuckle. “Well thank you, it’s probably the delightful mix of sweat and dawn dish soap.”

 

There’s a small huff against his neck and Stiles has to fight not to squish it together again. “No you idiot, you… you smell nice, underneath everything else you smell like...”

 

Derek doesn’t just stop, he seems to hesitate lingering in the words he wants to say for a bit. It makes Stiles insanely curious of course, but he lets the silence sit between instead of rushing it. He feels warm and happy from a day with his pack and family, celebrating a lot of different things but most of all the fact that they’ve made it another year without death and destruction stealing them away or tearing them apart.

 

“Thank you,” Derek says, the words catching Stiles a little off guard since he expected the guy to finish what he’d been trying to say.

 

“For..?” he asks, not really wanting to give himself away unless Derek’s figured it out on his own. Stiles had been so careful to not get his scent anywhere on the box but he also knows that Derek’s not an idiot and he’s pretty good at figuring things out sometimes.

 

“For this, for bringing the pack together, for..” Derek stops again, waiting until Stiles has pushed the pan he’d been washing into the rinse water before flipping him gently turning him around and pinning him tightly against the counter.

 

“For the keychain, for _everything_ ,” Derek finishes, his eyes flick down to Stiles’ lips as he moves closer and Stiles’ breath hitches in his throat.

 

“Figured that out, did you? I was trying to be stealthy,” Stiles says nervously. He hasn’t been this close to Derek in years, not since the days of pushing him against flat surfaces and growling threats. He’s never been privy to this soft look of gratitude or want, not so close at least. Not while he can pick out the thousand different shades of color reflected back at him in Derek’s beautiful eyes.

 

“You’re the only one who could have done it, the only one that-,” Derek pauses, seeming to gather his courage before continuing on, “You know me, know what I need, know how to make me happy, how to bring out the best and worst parts of me but the most important thing is, that you try. Even after...after what we’ve been through, you just keep trying, keep pushing me to be better and I-I want to be better. I want to be _more_ , for you.”

 

Stiles breath is stuttering in his throat and for the first time in a while he’s speechless. He never expected love confessions from Derek. Sure, he had a little bit of an idea that they were moving toward this, toward more than just friendship, but he never imagined that he’d get this. Derek opening himself up, vulnerable and warm and exposed, all for _him, for Stiles._

 

“You’re enough, you’re enough for me, for you, for anyone...right now, Derek. I don’t need you to be _more_ ,” Stiles huffs out a small laugh trying to bring back a lighter tone. “I mean don’t get me wrong I’m all about personal growth, but you don’t have to wait, you don’t have to make yourself anything extra.”

 

Before he can even think about what to say next Stiles has Derek’s body pressed against him and warm soft lips cutting off his words, his thoughts, he just _feels_ it and it feels like a surge of energy bouncing around beneath his skin. It’s tender, gentle, and still somehow the most exciting thing that he’s ever experienced. When they break apart it’s not heated panting or eager hands pulling and shoving into loose fabric, it’s just...comfortable quiet.

 

“Wow, that was absolutely nothing like I expected,” Stiles says, and it isn’t until he watches Derek’s mouth slide down into his grumpy cat face that he realizes what it sounds like he meant.

 

“No, no it was ... _better_ somehow and yet so different. I mean I figured, we’d end up arguing, like we do...and then one day the tension would just snap and everything would be rushed and hurried and y’know…”

Derek nods, seeming to agree but the sour expression hasn’t faded.  


“Hey, look at me,” Stiles says, pulling Derek’s chin up gently. “Listen to my heart if you’re not sure, Derek. It wasn’t what I expected but that doesn’t mean I didn’t love it. That I don’t love you, ‘cause I do. I have for a long time and this...however this is, is everything I could possibly want because it’s you.”

 

“You-” Derek starts but seems to stop, he isn’t completely shocked but there is this look of surprise and maybe a little awe that washes over his features.

 

“I do,” he answers easily, not wanting Derek to say it back, not yet anyway. He drops a quick kiss on his lips to cut off a reaction. “Now...I’m going to finish these dishes, you’re going to take the guest bed and we will talk about what this means in the morning.”

 

“Okay, yeah...yeah that sounds good.” Derek says, backing away with a small lift to the corner of his mouth. It’s not a full grin but it makes Stiles heart flip flop in his chest.

 

Stiles turns back to the dishes when Derek disappears into the living room and he starts to hum, a familiar tune his mom used to sing as she worked. He’d grown up, gained some confidence in a lot of areas and he’d known they’d eventually get here but still, it’s somehow taken him by delightful surprise and Stiles imagines that’s all Derek.

 

Because if there’s one thing he knows about Derek, it’s that his life, his _everything_ is better with him around.


End file.
